Wetzel: Delany, Big Ten not thinking big

The key to the entire article, "Delany’s plan is terrible for college football as a whole. It does, however, provide benefits for the Big Ten.

By no longer obligating major bowls to take champions from the Big East and ACC, plus strong teams from lesser leagues, more slots are open. Bowl directors admit they don’t care about on-field success. They covet schools with large fan bases and larger television markets that can make them money."

That is what a commissioner is supposed to do...watch out for his league. And Delaney does a fine job of watching out for the B1G. Anything Delaney does is good for the B1G first and foremost. There is a reason the B1G is the most stable conference in the country and many many teams would love to be a part of it.
 
Paying attention to Delaney like his PR means anything is a joke. I live outside B1G country. The media blows with the wind based on singular phrases by these conference people. You need to pay attention to what actually happens on the ground.

Strong Conferences continue to expand and weaker conferences continue to get weaker. That is the trend and until it stops all the rest is just lip service.
 
BSpringsteen said:
You can say the B1G is falling behind. I am telling you that while the SEC goes on to win mythical championships that are decided by computer, the Big 10 will be laughing all the way to the bank.
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But the thing is the money is great, but for who? The money is going to the schools, athletic budgets, certainly not to lower ticket prices. I personally do not see a dime of this money and when the SEC brags about how great they are my come back is "yeah, well we make more money than you". Tbh, I would rather have the best players, wins, and the National Championships.

I am not advocating Big Ten schools start cheating but they need to recruit better players to compete at SEC's level. Whether they are cheating, or have an advantage, I do not care figure out a way to get it done. Use all that money to build the biggest - baddest athletic facilities in the country to get these players going to our schools instead of the SEC.
 
The more money the B1G has, the more competitive it will be. Delaney knows this and every action taken thusfar has been in furtherance of the goal of making hte B1G the wealthiest conference by a wide margin.

Here is my favorite sentence of the article. Please let me know if you know what the hell it means.

"That’s the blueprint for how a conference that wants to dominate. "
 
silvanthalas said:
So was he a hack with the OSU stuff? The Miami stuff? The PSU stuff?

I find it ******* hilarious that, when just about the ONLY sports journalism is being done by Yahoo! Sports, that he must be a 'hack' because you think he's bagging on the Big Ten.

The Big Ten deserves to be ripped. And the BCS is a steaming pile of **** that should be replaced by a playoff.

The Big Ten is falling behind, and it appears to be at a higher pace than the likes of the Big 12 or Pac-10. Considering the geographic, populations, etc, Wetzel is spot on: the Big Ten will have the most money... but it won't have the championships.
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He's not a hack because he bags on the Big 10 (he's not a fan of the Pac 12 as well, care to guess the reason...)

He's a hack because every single one of his "columns" has one single purpose, destroy the BCS. Any and every story, he finds a way to paint the BCS system as the bad guy. Personally, I'd rather do away with the system and go back to the old model.

For example, Pat Forde, another Yahoo columnist, bashes the Big 10 with regularity. He's not a hack though because he doesn't have an underlying reason to do so. He just feels that the Big 10 football hasn't been good as of late.
 
ssckelley said:
But the thing is the money is great, but for who? The money is going to the schools, athletic budgets, certainly not to lower ticket prices. I personally do not see a dime of this money and when the SEC brags about how great they are my come back is "yeah, well we make more money than you". Tbh, I would rather have the best players, wins, and the National Championships.

I am not advocating Big Ten schools start cheating but they need to recruit better players to compete at SEC's level. Whether they are cheating, or have an advantage, I do not care figure out a way to get it done. Use all that money to build the biggest - baddest athletic facilities in the country to get these players going to our schools instead of the SEC.
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This is moronic.

Delaney sees the writing on the wall. The culture of the B1G isn't going to allow for competing against the SEC on a regular basis. So his answer is to fortify the conference so winning the B1G is a huge deal.

I don't care about winning a national championship, I just want to win a Rose Bowl.
 
JHHawk said:
and has not feel for what college football is all about.
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And what, pray tell, is college football 'all about' these days?

Is the Big Ten Network what college football is all about? Is paying coaches millions and millions of dollars?

Here's a thought: Let's stop kidding ourselves that college football is about teaching and making good people out of 'student athletes'.

College football is all about the almighty dollar, and has been for some time.
 
BSpringsteen said:
This is moronic.

Delaney sees the writing on the wall. The culture of the B1G isn't going to allow for competing against the SEC on a regular basis. So his answer is to fortify the conference so winning the B1G is a huge deal.

I don't care about winning a national championship, I just want to win a Rose Bowl.
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You would be in the minority there. I want Iowa to win the Rose Bowl as bad as anybody but winning the National Championship is the ultimate goal of any team.
 
treychase said:
That story is quite simple...the SEC has had the most success because many of its programs(Bama & LSU for sure) sign the most players, hold "try outs", cut players & send many more to juco.
The SEC is playing a game of poker with 6 cards and the B1G is playing with 5.
Saban signs as many players in 4 yrs as Iowa signs in 5 or 6. Les Miles same.
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This is very smart business on their part. If their conference allows it then why not take advantage of it. I know a lot of the coaches are actually against this practice from an ethical standpoint, BUT if the rules allow it and the only way to compete is to do it, then it's a smart business decision.

What is the B1G's current policy on oversigning? It's frustrating as an Iowa fan to see us sign only 20 in a class, then watch 8 - 10 of those guys leave the school before it's all said and done.
 
It's just tough to take anything Wetzel writes about the BCS or anything any conference does in relation to the BCS at face value.

The guy wrote a book about destroying the BCS. Most of his columns about the BCS are an extension and advertisement for said book.

Doesn't mean he's right or wrong, just there's a lot bias there and should be judged accordingly.

He probably isn't going to patting anyone with BCS support on the back. He will be likely to jump all over them given the opportunity. Again, not necessarily right or wrong, just something to keep in mind when reading his opinion. It's coming slanted from one side, not a more impartial observer.
 
BSpringsteen said:
This is moronic.

Delaney sees the writing on the wall. The culture of the B1G isn't going to allow for competing against the SEC on a regular basis. So his answer is to fortify the conference so winning the B1G is a huge deal.

I don't care about winning a national championship, I just want to win a Rose Bowl.
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Bruce,

I love your honesty on this board, sometimes brutal honesty, but this sentence is absolutely laughable.
 
Folks need to be patient. Money is starting to roll in. More money will start rolling in. Money is a big component of building a championship team. Facilities, marketing, brands, recruiting, etc... Why do you think Oregon & Oklahoma State are all off a sudden National title contenders. Money. National championships will follow in the B1G. SEC will always be a strong football conference. B1G will be close to that or just as strong in a few years. Don't worry.
 
BSpringsteen said:
I don't care about winning a national championship, I just want to win a Rose Bowl.
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Personally, I'd rather watch Iowa beat a SEC team in the Sugar Bowl then beat a Pac 12 team in the Rose Bowl. Along with that, I'll take national recognition for Iowa over regional recognition all day.
 
hawkeyeuser1 said:
Folks need to be patient. Money is starting to roll in. More money will start rolling in. Money is a big component of building a championship team. Facilities, marketing, brands, recruiting, etc... Why do you think Oregon & Oklahoma State are all off a sudden National title contenders. Money. National championships will follow in the B1G. SEC will always be a strong football conference. B1G will be close to that or just as strong in a few years. Don't worry.
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NC's will not come with the current system. If the SEC is playing 8 conference games and only 2 or 3 of those are really tough, but all are against ranked teams, because the conference is overrated top to bottom, then they will have at least a couple of teams going for undefeated or top 2 or 3 one loss seasons each year.

The B1G money you speak of means that it is money that will be distributed across the board making every team stronger, which will make it virtually impossible, or extremely rare to go undefeated or only have one loss in a 9 conference game schedule.
 
Xerxes said:
Bruce,

I love your honesty on this board, sometimes brutal honesty, but this sentence is absolutely laughable.
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If we had a true national championship that'd be one thing, but we don't.

We have a subjective system where weight is placed in the hands of sportswriters computers and grad assistants.

So who cares about it, it's a manufactured popularity contest.
 
Daleny knows what he is doing. The SEC is not converting its on-field wins to cash nearly as effectively as the B10 does.

Cash is the name of the game.
 
CAARHawk said:
NC's will not come with the current system. If the SEC is playing 8 conference games and only 2 or 3 of those are really tough, but all are against ranked teams, because the conference is overrated top to bottom, then they will have at least a couple of teams going for undefeated or top 2 or 3 one loss seasons each year.

The B1G money you speak of means that it is money that will be distributed across the board making every team stronger, which will make it virtually impossible, or extremely rare to go undefeated or only have one loss in a 9 conference game schedule.
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I agree with this. Delany looking for more money and media exposure can only be good for the conference. As weak as the Big Ten is perceived to be (especially this year), it looks like Michigan has a great shot at being the second conference team in the BCS.
 
The Big XII tried out a championship game and wanted no part of it? Sweet Tebow, that invalidates the entire article. The Big XII was one of the first conferences to have a championship game. They'd still have one if they hadn't bowed to Bevo so much that it p!$$3d off one of their signature members who bolted and blew up the league. That kind of revisionist bullsh@t should be reserved to the Republican primary.
 
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